SFX magazine had some speculation that Bucky will be breainwashed and become Winter Soldier under Hydra instead the Soviets.

They're not alone in that speculation.

In the MCU, it makes more sense for it to be HYDRA, since Bucky disappeared in HYDRA territory....they would've been the ones to find and capture him, not the Soviets. And it wouldn't make any sense for the Red Army to find an American soldier out in the wilds and, rather than simply return him to his unit, instead choose to brainwash him to become a mercenary assassin.

I disagree on it making more sense, though. HYDRA is said to be loosing ground, with their Alpine headquarters being their last base. So at that point in time, they don't have territory left, if they had any to begin with, as I thought HYDRA was portrayed as a rogue entity in control of a network of military installations rather than a political force that occupied towns and so on. Th

Having Hydra pulling Bucky's string is the "PERFECT" way to introduce hydra into the 21st century for the sake of MCU. Despite it not staiying true to the comics but what they have done thus far..im fine with there own spin, its worked for the past five years...

To be fair, MS already went off the reservation by retconning HYDRA back to WWII in the MCU anyway, and by changing Bucky's character and fate. So in the canon of the MCU, having HYDRA get hold of him makes sense.

I'm cool with Hydra pulling the strings, but there's got to be some Russian involvement so there can be a BW tie.

Maybe the Hydra higher-ups involved in the Winter Soldier brainwashing were Russian & during Cold War Era, when Russia was America's enemy, it made sense for Hydra to ally itself with Russia (like they did with Nazi Germany during WWII).

Makes Hydra sort of unanimous with anti-America parties throughout history and we can watch how it changes itself to better position itself against democracy.

Gah, had a whole thing about why HYDRA as WS' bosses isn't such a hot idea but my browser crapped out on me.

Here's a question... What makes the "Perfect" way to reintroduce HYDRA aside. Why reintroduce them at all?

Also, HYDRA couldn't have been the ones to make Bucky into Winter Soldier.

Bucky went missing only a short period of time before HYDRA was attacked by the SSR.

They're on a mission to capture Zola. Bucky falls. They get Zola back to London where Philips instantly debriefs him. Philips then briefs Cap/Howlers that HYDRA's assault will commence in less than 24 hours.

He also says that HYDRA only has their base in the Alps.

The SSR clearly wins the battle against HYDRA.

All signs point to that at the end of the war, there wasn't a HYDRA to make Bucky into Winter Soldier at all.

To be fair, MS already went off the reservation by retconning HYDRA back to WWII in the MCU anyway, and by changing Bucky's character and fate. So in the canon of the MCU, having HYDRA get hold of him makes sense.

Gah, had a whole thing about why HYDRA as WS' bosses isn't such a hot idea but my browser crapped out on me.

Here's a question... What makes the "Perfect" way to reintroduce HYDRA aside. Why reintroduce them at all?

Also, HYDRA couldn't have been the ones to make Bucky into Winter Soldier.

Bucky went missing only a short period of time before HYDRA was attacked by the SSR.

They're on a mission to capture Zola. Bucky falls. They get Zola back to London where Philips instantly debriefs him. Philips then briefs Cap/Howlers that HYDRA's assault will commence in less than 24 hours.

He also says that HYDRA only has their base in the Alps.

The SSR clearly wins the battle against HYDRA.

All signs point to that at the end of the war, there wasn't a HYDRA to make Bucky into Winter Soldier at all.

We don't know if there were any HYDRA remnants or not....maybe some survived.

In any event, Zola *definitely* survived, and we can suspect that he didn't remain a "guest" of the SSR forever. Maybe he escaped, or was involved in a spy swap during the Cold War. There's every reason to believe that Zola would have rebuilt HYDRA from the ground up, since he was more or less the brains behind the outfit anyway.

In any event, Zola *definitely* survived, and we can suspect that he didn't remain a "guest" of the SSR forever. Maybe he escaped, or was involved in a spy swap during the Cold War. There's every reason to believe that Zola would have rebuilt HYDRA from the ground up, since he was more or less the brains behind the outfit anyway.

And Bucky would have just been waiting there, at the bottom of the valley, for years?

specifically, they say that they experimented on him with Zola's version of the super-soldier serum. And that's how he ends up surviving the fall.

But that doesn't explain why it makes it better for HYDRA to have been the ones to turn him into the Winter Soldier. In fact, it makes keeping that role for the KGB easier.

Why does it make keeping that role for the Sovs easier?
There *could* have been Soviets in the area where Bucky disappeared, but there's absolutely no evidence of that. There *is* evidence that HYDRA was there, in force.

And again, I keep coming back to the simple question: why would the Russians keep Bucky and brainwash him into being their Manchurian Candidate? The Russians were America's allies in WWII --- if they found a lost American soldier, it's 99.9% likely that they would've simply tried to return him to his unit.

Why would they reintroduce Hydra? Because irrespective of Winter Soldier, Hydra is a major part of the Marvel Universe. Having Hydra continue to exist post-WWII would be incredibly useful, so there is no good reason to avoid doing so. Particularly with the TV show coming up: Hydra is *the* SHIELD nemesis.